Kinetics of the (salen)Cr( iii )- and (salen)Co( iii )-catalyzed copolymerization of epoxides with CO 2 , and of the accompanying degradation reactions

The catalytic cycle of the (salen)M( iii )-catalyzed copolymerization for a variety of epoxides with CO 2 is elucidated using computational chemistry, and factors that control the kinetics and product distribution of these reactions are described.